It’s that time of the year. Time to be more aware of breast cancer. They had the usual frivolities at work again this year. You could win a bowl full of pink M&M’s if you guessed the how many were in the jar. For $1 you could get a pretty pink ribbon to proudly display your awareness. I, to surely no one’s surprise, did not take part in the cancer day festivities.

[09:15] J: why aren’t you wearing your pink pants today?
[09:16] Fuwjax: awareness doesn’t help anyone
[09:16] J: i’m aware that you are a jackass
[09:16] J: and it has helped me tremendously!
[09:17] Fuwjax: and yet you talk to me nearly every day… obviously it’s not helping you enough to simply be aware
[09:17] J: it helps me understand where you are coming from
[09:17] J: and how to react to your statements
[09:18] Fuwjax: great, then the next time I’m in a conversation with breast cancer, I will make it perfectly clear to it that I know where it comes from and how to react to it.
[09:19] Fuwjax: thankfully I’m very aware that it comes from bowls of m&m’s and that it’s terribly afraid of pink
[09:20] J: see … JACKASS

Now, there’s a chance that you’re one of the two people who’s lived on a desert island alone for the last 60 years and therefore have never personally known someone who’s had breast cancer. But I’m going to lean heavily towards the assumption that if you’re reading this, you didn’t find it tucked away neatly in a glass bottle that washed up on the shore next to your grass hut.

So for those of you who aren’t basking under the warm glow of your own personal milliarc of the sun’s light, do you honestly think you can convince me that this person you know who has breast cancer cares one tiny lick off a coconut that you’re wearing a $1 pink ribbon for a few hours some afternoon at work? Do you think they’re content to have mutant cells malign their mammaries as long as you get to pop a few hundred pink chocolates for a lucky guess?

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: awareness doesn’t help anyone. It is little more than the systematic desensitization of society to the depth of human suffering. You want to show the world you’re concerned about breast cancer? Go spend a few hours a day hovering near a chemo treatment center and sit with a 12 year old girl whose arms have been burned from the high acidity of her vomit following her treatments. Talk to the man with breast cancer whose friends won’t come anywhere near him because everyone knows guys don’t get breast cancer.

Stop with the damn awareness. Knowing that cancer exists doesn’t do a damn thing for anyone. If you care, then spend time with the people who are suffering. Sure, yeah, I agree, every dollar donated to cancer research helps. But those damn ribbons just advertise your pride and self-righteousness, not your compassion for others.